Print driver software has been implemented, which includes value-added features that satisfy a wide range of requirements from graphics arts to enterprise applications and production environments. Some of these features require innovative implementations because they extend beyond the bounds envisioned for standard print drivers. Some customers and users depend upon these features, which can provide a competitive advantage. Despite a need for solutions in this area, little development has taken place.
One such popular feature is watermarking (also known as annotations). The print driver provides options within its feature selection GUI to enable a user to add text and/or bitmap annotations as an overlay or underlay on each printed page. These annotations are applied by the driver and do not depend on the application from which the user is printing. Typical uses include adding a company logo, a timestamp, a note such as “Draft” or “Confidential”, or a background image.
Text watermark features have been implemented that allow for the selection of any font available on the user's client PC. The picture watermark feature is typically used with local image files resident on the user's client PC. The problem is that client-server printing is widely employed by users of, for example, Windows® based client devices, and when rendering occurs via a remote print server, the print server needs access to the original font and/or image files which are located on the user's client computing device (e.g., PC). Note that Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Unfortunately, current Windows® based software does not provide any built-in means to enable print driver software running on the client PC to add these files into the print job or to otherwise make them available to the code executing on the print server. For clarification, it should be understood, however, that this limitation is specific to the new Version 4 print architecture.